Start the Weekend Right Link Series – Volume #4, Edition #1

For the first Start the Weekend Right Link Series of 2016 – and nearly one year since the last edition of this series – I decided to post some of the oldest articles that I have saved in my Feedly reader. The articles below are years old, but they are very good and I highly encourage you to read them.

As always, though, before we get to this week’s links I again want to strongly recommend signing up for a free Feedly account. I get absolutely no kickback for promoting Feedly, but I am so appreciative of their product being the best RSS reader on the internet and I encourage everyone to use it. If you are using another RSS aggregator, please consider following JerseySmarts.com at http://www.jerseysmarts.com/feed/. If you are already on Feedly, then you can follow us by clicking here. Thanks!

Your Chair Is Giving You Cancer, Men’s Health
Admittedly, I am one of those folks who dislikes these types of misleading headlines. No, your chair is not giving you cancer. Yes, sitting in one position and living a sedentary lifestyle can lead to increased risk factors related to catastrophic health concerns like cancer. There are some good, quick tips in this article to get up out of your chair and improve your overall health.

Frugality Advice from Millionaires, Get Rich Slowly
Is there a better source to get information on money from than millionaires? Many of the tips in this article are those that you should already know: avoid debt, do not accumulate lots of stuff, put money away for later, etc. For those of you who are looking for financial independence, you might enjoy reading these tips from people who have achieved your dream.

My Primal Transformation: Discovering the Art of Fit, Mark’s Daily Apply
I really enjoy reading dramatic weight loss stories that have accompanying pictures to show the person’s actual weight loss. This is a story from back in 2011 that tells the story of Frank Sabia, Jr. and how he went from 255 pounds down to 167 pounds. Granted, losing 88 pounds is not what I would typically categorize as a dramatic weight loss (I usually reserve that categorization for 100+ pound weight loss stories). However, I think Sabia has a good story and one that is worth reading.

Outfitting a Manly Kitchen, Danger & Play
One of the most important things that all of us can do to be healthier human beings is eat better. In this short, but potent, men can learn about how to outfit their kitchens to improve their overall health. After re-reading this article, I went out and purchased a vegetable steamer on Amazon.

How to Whistle With Your Fingers, Art of Manliness
Even after reading this article, I still cannot whistle with my fingers. I can whistle loudly and just fine without using my fingers, so I am okay with not being able to use this technique. Maybe you will have better success that I did in trying to whistle with my fingers. Good luck!

The 38 Best Methods of Successful Exercisers, Zen Habits
Everyone on the internet seems to have an opinion on how best to lose weight and get into shape. Good for them and their opinions. This article is less about a single person’s opinion and more about what worked for other people. These are the type of weight loss posts that I like to scan through from time to time just to see what worked for people who have actually lost weight (there are a lot of hucksters out there on the internet).

How to fix Final Fantasy, Engadget
You did not think that we would go through one of these link series without some video game fun, right? Even though this article is more than four years old, I still think that there is a gem of relevance in what the author writes in this piece. And since I did not see a comments section on this article, my addition to the discussion on how to improve the Final Fantasy games is to… (wait for it)… make the games about fantasy again! Too many of the recent incarnations of this series have been focused on creating an ultra realistic approach to the classic fantasy role playing game. Stop it. Give us black mages, warriors, and a guy named Cid and we will be happy with Final Fantasy again!

The Pain of the Daily Commute, New York Times: Well Blog
In the “no big surprise” category, this 2011 entry on the awesome Well blog on the New York Times website notes a study from IBM talking about how commuting is actually painful. The pain that most commuters report is increased stress and anger levels. With the pending transit strike here in New Jersey, I thought now was a good time to bring out this link. If this transit strike actually takes place, then it is going to be a stressful time for New Jersey commuters until a resolution is reached.

How Widespread is Student Indoctrination?, National Association of Scholars
I am a critic of any unfair treatment of any student on any campus in the country. I do not care about the color, gender, age, background, etc. of the student – if they are being treated unfairly, then I want to see that unfair treatment stop. One of the biggest criticisms of higher education is that students are being indoctrinated, but is that really true? The author of this piece suggests that perhaps students are not being indoctrinated because, frankly, students just do not have an opinion on the “controversial” issue being discussed. This article is a quick, interesting take on student indoctrination on college campuses and I think you will enjoy reading it.

The Chilly World of Campus Males, Minding the Campus
We are in an interesting time in higher education. On the one hand you have the media, political extremists, and willfully uninformed campus-based employees promoting the false narrative that there are rapists preying on young college women. While every meaningful study absolutely destroys the false statistics being promoted by those with an agenda, there are other folks – like Dr. Warren Farrell, the author of this article – who are concerned about the anti-male environment that colleges have now created for young men. College men are taught that they are dangerous just because they are male – and that is about as inappropriate and unacceptable as it gets. We certainly would not accept that dictum if it was peddled about young women, gays and lesbians, students of certain ethnicities, etc. Why is such a reductive, biased perspective allowed to be propagated against young men who have done nothing wrong besides enroll in an institute of higher education?